12-Year-Old Science Geek Undergoes Surgery After Swallowing 54 Magnets As Part Of Experiment

A 12-year-old boy's love for science almost became fatal when the curious child swallowed 54 magnet balls to check whether it would make him magnetic.

Rhiley Morrison, from Greater Manchester, England, underwent a six-hour-long surgery to get the toy magnets out of his stomach, which he swallowed as part of an "experiment," Times Now News reported.

Morrison wanted to know if swallowing magnets will make the metal objects stick to his stomach. He informed his mother, Paige Ward, four days after he had swallowed the toy magnets when he got worried that they did not come out of his body. Morrison, however, lied he had swallowed only two of his toy magnets.

"Rhiley is massively into science, he loves experiments, he eventually admitted 'I tried to stick magnets to me, I wanted to see if this copper would stick to my belly while the magnets were in,'" Ward told local media.

The worried mother rushed him to the hospital where the doctors took an x-ray and found more than 30 metal balls inside the boy's stomach.

"I was gobsmacked, just speechless when I heard the number he'd swallowed," Ward said, Times Now News reported.

Doctors soon realized that it was a life-threatening situation as they feared the magnets would burn through his tissues and vital organs. The boy was rushed for an emergency surgery.

A keyhole surgery was performed during which doctors scooped out 54 magnet balls from the child's stomach.

"The doctors guessed around 25- 30 from the x-ray, but when he came out of surgery they said they got 54," Ward said.

The situation was so complicated that the boy spent 10 days in the hospital unable to move. Every time he tried moving he vomited out a green liquid that was caused due to his bowel leaking, Healthwire reported.

"It was horrible to see him not able to sit up and being so sick every time he moved because this fluid was sloshing around inside him," the mother said, Times Now News reported.

The boy was also unable to eat or go to the toilet. He was tube-fed and had a catheter inserted.

"When they tried to put the catheter in he had pins and needles through his body and told me 'I feel like my insides are going to explode," she said.

The child, who is diagnosed with autism and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), had asked for the magnet toys as a Christmas gift. He bought more from a corner shop with the money from his piggy bank.

"He is autistic but he's quite high functioning. He knows what he's doing, he knows right from wrong," the mother said.

After his 16-day hospital ordeal Morrison was discharged and is now recovering at home.

"He's just made a mistake and unfortunately it was one that could have cost him a lot," Ward said.